Tesco pushes low-carbon fertilisers as retailers seek to de-risk UK farming
Supermarket giant urges cross-industry collaboration to move technologies from trial to scale, as cost pressures and supply shocks reshape fertiliser markets
Crop inputs
Bayer-Aphea.Bio deal targets next-gen bioinsecticides as ag majors continue biologicals push
Partnership highlights the industry pivot toward nature-based crop protection, with bioinsecticides emerging as a key battleground for innovation and growth
On the ground in Cordova, Alaska
Alaska’s budding kelp industry: Can the seaweed be the state’s next big agricultural good?
Alaska’s kelp production is opening opportunities beyond fishing
Biotalys funding highlights growing investor backing for next-gen biocontrols
Belgian agtech raises €12m as capital continues to flow into biological crop protection, with investors backing scalable alternatives to conventional chemistry
Start-up profile
Why BBLeap believes crop spraying is fundamentally broken
Dutch agtech founder Peter Millenaar argues that conventional spraying misses up to 20% of crops – and says only plant-level precision will deliver the next leap in agricultural productivity
‘On track for a fourth quarter separation,’ Corteva shares spin-off progress at BMO conference
Corteva’s CEO and CFO discuss the company’s planned separation, opportunities in Latin America, and gene-editing opportunities
Mosaic cuts output as input costs soar, but bets on biosciences for future growth
Fertiliser major trims production and capex amid volatile markets, while positioning biologicals as a strategic growth pillar
PepsiCo and Fertiberia scale green fertiliser push across 400,000 acres of European farmland
PepsiCo and Fertiberia are expanding a long‑term partnership to deploy green hydrogen‑based fertiliser across Europe, supporting more than 1,500 farmers as the food giant targets deep cuts to agricultural emissions in its supply chain
Fertilizer management: Why cutting crop nutrients could do more harm than good
Will fertilizer volatility spur U.S. interest in biologicals?
Nutrien signals stabilisation in volatile fertiliser markets as retail arm cushions shocks
Nutrien’s first-quarter results point to a fertiliser market stabilising under geopolitical strain, with record potash volumes and resilient retail performance helping offset continued pricing and margin pressures across nitrogen and phosphate
High fertilizer prices, tight supplies: CF Industries navigates Iran war impacts in Q1
The nitrogen supplier is expecting unmet fertilizer demand in large parts of the Global South as India and China restrict exports
Glyphosate under pressure: campaigners’ push for restrictions likely to accelerate search for alternatives
As UK campaigners call for a ban on glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant, pressure is mounting on regulators – and on the industry – to find viable alternatives. Yet while options exist, none currently match glyphosate’s unique combination of...
Farmer sentiment sours on input costs increases, Iran war concerns
Farmers are feeling the pinch from higher fertilizer and input prices, driven in part from Iran war-induced volatility
Corteva to capitalize on shift from corn to soybean acres in US, biological growth in Brazil
Corteva registered growth in both its seed and crop protection business in Q1 2026 and anticipates minimal impacts from the Iran war
Start-up profile
Can Arevo reinvent fertiliser for a volatile world?
A Swedish start-up promising near‑zero nitrogen leakage is betting that soaring fertiliser prices, stricter EU regulation and geopolitical instability will finally push farmers to rethink how nutrients are delivered to crops
Yara chief warns Iran conflict could put 10bn meals a week at risk as food price impact looms
Yara International chief executive Sven Tore Holsether has warned that the war in Iran risks removing up to 10 billion meals a week from global food production, even as the fertiliser major posted better‑than‑expected Q1 2026 results. While near‑term...
Syngenta makes its IPO case as Q1 growth holds up despite geopolitics and trade disruption
Syngenta Group’s first‑quarter results underline a steady shift towards a higher‑quality, innovation‑led agribusiness, with crop protection and seeds driving sales and margins even as FX headwinds, geopolitical tensions and trade disruption continue to...
BASF shareholders back agriculture carve‑out as geopolitics bite into crop protection earnings
BASF investors have given the green light to a planned carve‑out of the group’s Agricultural Solutions division, as first‑quarter results reveal how Middle East tensions and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are squeezing farmer buying power and...
Ag movers & shakers for April 2026: Redox Bio-Nutrients, The Land Institute bolster R&D teams
Ag companies and non‑profits bolstered research efforts this month, including Redox Bio-Nutrients and The Land Institute hiring and promoting scientists to key roles
Bayer backs Norwich Research Park programme to help agri‑biotech start-ups bridge the Series A gap
Bayer has become the first corporate sponsor of Norwich Research Park’s new BioTransitions programme, raising hopes that more UK agri‑food biotech start-ups will receive the targeted support they need to scale from seed funding to Series A – and avoid...
Why Syngenta is betting on biology, AI and modelling to reinvent crop protection
As Syngenta commits $130m to a new bioscience R&D hub in the UK, Dave Hughes – the company’s global technology scout – explains why digital science, biologicals and soil innovation will define the next era of agtech
Smart timing, not savings alone: How Agrii’s host farm trials are rethinking fungicide strategy
Can digital tools help farmers spend less on fungicides without sacrificing yield? Agronomy firm Agrii’s latest host farm trials in the UK suggest the real value lies not in cutting chemistry outright, but in using better data to time applications more...
Bayer promises ‘first‑to‑the‑farm’ innovation as shareholders push back
Bayer’s 2026 Annual Stockholders’ Meeting laid bare investor patience wearing thin over the Monsanto acquisition and US glyphosate litigation, even as CEO Bill Anderson pointed to early signs of operational progress. For agriculture, the message was...
Study offers new way to stop global potato pathogen once linked to Ireland’s Great Famine
Scientists in Sweden say they have taken an important step towards combating potato late blight, a destructive plant disease historically linked to Ireland’s Great Famine and now spreading more widely as climate change reshapes growing conditions.
Start-up profile
Nanomnia: Delivery science is becoming the deciding factor for next‑generation biologicals
As peptides, dsRNA and other fragile biological actives move closer to market, Italian nano‑biotech Nanomnia believes growth will increasingly come from developers who need delivery to be enabling, not incremental
UK biosolutions eye growth as resource insecurity sharpens
New data from BIA BioSolutions shows UK biosolutions companies have raised £1.46bn in equity since 2018, underlining the sector’s growing importance as policymakers and industry look for domestic, biology‑based solutions to insulate the economy from...
Clarkson’s Farm turns to variable-rate nitrogen as fertiliser crisis tightens
The severe global fuel and fertiliser crisis driven by the conflict in the Middle East will force farmers to rethink how they use fertilisers and accelerate uptake of newer, more efficient techniques, according to Charlie Ireland, agronomist at Jeremy...
France’s newest export isn’t perfume – it’s scent‑based crop protection
French agtech Agriodor has raised €15m to scale a novel class of crop protection products that use the natural scents emitted by plants to attract, repel or disrupt insect pests – offering a potential alternative to conventional insecticides at a time of...
Rovensa Next doubles down on AI and training to deliver more practical biosolutions support
Biosolutions company Rovensa Next is rolling out a global AI platform and training academy to help distributors and growers move from fragmented biosolutions data to more practical, crop‑specific and evidence‑based recommendations in the field
Corteva names CEOs, executive teams for spin-off companies
Corteva inches closer to its eventual split, announcing CEOs and executive teams for spin-off companies, SpinCo and New Corteva
Why fertilizer prices could remain high into 2027
Farmers around the world are feeling the impact of the Iran war in higher fertilizer prices – which could remain elevated even after a peace deal
Iran war’s long tail: Why crop protection prices could mirror fertilizer shocks
The U.S. might have been spared the blunt of high fertilizer prices, but Australia, India, and Brazil might not be so lucky
Is price transparency a first step in addressing fertilizer volatility?
A bipartisan piece of legislation wants to bring more transparency to the fertilizer market, amid rising prices due to the Iran war
Syngenta sees double-digit growth in biologicals in 2025, makes ‘no final decision’ on IPO
The crop protection and seed giant is registering strong demand for its biologicals, as the company expects crop protection and seed markets to stabilise in 2026
Philanthropy steps in where VC won’t: DSV and Renaissance launch venture engine for climate‑ready crops
Deep Science Ventures and Renaissance Philanthropy unveil a new venture creation project aimed at building a generation of field‑ready crop‑resilience technologies backed not by traditional VC capital, but by high‑ambition philanthropic funding willing...
World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit San Francisco 2026
Syngenta takes the quantum leap to develop next-gen crop protection products
Syngenta partners with QuantumBasel to explore how quantum computing can be used to develop crop protection products that address sustainability while addressing weather, disease, and pest pressures associated with climate change
Leaps by Bayer’s PJ Amini pushes back after critics say new Playbook alienates early‑stage innovators
VP PJ Amini says the updated Ag Playbook 2.0 framework is meant to equip founders, not deter them, with clearer data on timelines, costs and development hurdles
Attune Agriculture expands adjuvant portfolio with Horizon A
Attune is expanding its portfolio of hydrocolloid-based adjuvants, as the crop input company invests research and development into active chemistries
Local & green: How an ammonia project could help Minnesota farmers save on fertiliser
Proposed green ammonia facilities in Minnesota will boost local supply of fertiliser, while providing an opportunity for companies to invest in Scope 3 greenhouse gas reductions
Syngenta’s paraquat exit underscores urgent need for novel weed‑control chemistries
As Syngenta winds down paraquat production, industry voices warn it highlights the crop protection sector’s long‑standing failure to deliver genuinely new modes of action as weed resistance accelerates worldwide
Investors back biologicals as Mycoverse raises €2.4m to tackle potato blight
Mycoverse secures €2.4m pre-seed round to accelerate AI‑enabled biocontrol platform, beginning with potato late blight
Finnish nutrient-recovery start-up NPHarvest secures up to €1.2m to scale international growth
Business Finland backs cleantech firm as Europe faces rising digestate burdens and a push for circular fertilizer sources
UK start-up raises $3.8m to develop safer, next‑gen herbicide to replace glyphosate
Bindbridge aims to commercialise AI‑designed molecular glues that could unlock entirely new herbicide modes of action, with US and Brazil markets seen as the fastest near‑term opportunities
Corteva CEO discusses strength of U.S. soybean, split in H2 at Bank of America event
Corteva’s CEO signaled optimism in U.S.’ position as an agricultural leader, as the ag giant gears up to split its business in two later this year
EU policy recap: February’s big shifts in farming rules, trade and tech
From fertiliser reforms to wine sector rescue plans, Brussels unleashes a wave of measures that could impact agtech demand across the continent
Nutrien CEO expects ‘a normal spring’ in the U.S., mulls Brazil retail decision
Nutrien remains bullish on its potash business, given strong demand from U.S. farmers, boosted by government assistance
Fast‑tracked Ukraine accession could upend EU agriculture, crop care group warns
ECCA’s Paolo Marchesini says uneven regulations and Ukraine’s cost advantages risk destabilising farmers unless the EU fixes its own internal barriers first
Scientists unveil Baltic phosphorus breakthrough that could transform Europe’s fertiliser security
Researchers say a new microbe‑driven method to recover phosphorus from Baltic Sea sediments could ease Europe’s reliance on imported fertiliser and lay foundations for a circular EU nutrient economy
Agtech funding recap for Feb. 2026: Kubota invests in Kilter, Corteva Catalyst in Resurrect Bio
Does a recent slew of agtech funding news point to a broader investment trend for 2026?
Monsanto litigation: Bayer reaches settlement agreement, denies wrongdoing
Bayer expects a negative free cash flow in 2026 due to Roundup litigation containment, as the chemical company pushes back the reporting of its full-year 2025 results to March